Wrath of the Gods The Complete Guide MYTHWEB Written by Joel Skidmore with Jeff Cretcher and Marty Beckers Introduction by Kim Goeller Edited by Nicola Skidmore The classic graphic adventure game Wrath of the Gods is available at www.mythweb.com ISBN 978-0-9821333-0-9 M © 2009 MYTHWEB Introduction By Kim Goeller What is an Interactive Adventure Game? Adventure games have a few things in common. There is usually a quest or ultimate mystery to unravel, and the person on the quest is often the character controlled by the player. Generally there are obstacles, challenges, and puzzles that the player must contend with in order to fulfill his or her quest. Wrath of the Gods combines many of the features of an adventure game with stories from Greek mythology. Players take the role of a prince who is on a quest to regain his birthright. In the course of playing Wrath of the Gods you will: steal the Golden Fleece from a fire-breathing dragon, fly like Icarus with wings of wax and feathers, charm Cerberus, outsmart the Cyclops, and encounter many other challenges and puzzles from the Greek myths. As is typical with interactive games, in Wrath of the Gods the player will be collecting objects and gathering clues along the way—nothing should be ignored. Each screen is a different cinematic scene. Wrath of the Gods is non-linear, meaning you are free to go through rooms and solve puzzles in any order you want (within reason; some puzzles require that others be solved first). As you acquire appropriate inventory, you will roam the ancient terrain, interact with mythical characters, and try to solve a multitude of puzzles and dilemmas. Who is “Our Hero”? In addition to reading about the heroic exploits of Hercules, Jason, Perseus, and others, you relive these adventures in Wrath of the Gods. Instead of playing a specific Greek hero, you play the role of an aspiring hero-to-be. “Our Hero” is a composite of many of the heroes of Greek 5 Our Hero mythology, and you will face a combination of the various challenges they faced. How Do You “Win”? The player begins Wrath of the Gods with 100 points, and additional points are awarded when puzzles and challenges are solved. Players who solve every puzzle and successfully meet each challenge (without consulting the Oracle for hints) will finish the game with 500 points. Although there is a point system, Wrath of the Gods was designed to encourage experimentation and risk. Trial and error will solve a lot of puzzles and ultimately provide a context for the stories themselves. In contrast to many other graphic adventure games, death is not the end of the road in Wrath of the Gods. Instead, you will end up in Hades or on Mount Olympus when you make a “mistake.” Your adventure will continue in the Underworld or atop Olympus as you interact with mythological characters who offer you clues to solve the particular puzzles that resulted in your demise. 6 Basic Story Line of Wrath of the Gods The introduction (accessed from the start-up screen) depicts Our Hero’s early childhood and sets up the narrative framework for the program. Like many of the Greek heroes, Our Hero was abandoned at birth as the result of an oracle’s prophecy, but he was taken in and cared for by a centaur who raised him to manhood. Later in the game, Our Hero will meet up with his grandfather and eventually rescue his mother from evil King Minos. She then sends him on to find his true father. The narrative does not get in the way of the player’s freedom to decide what action to take at any moment in the game, and many adventures are unrelated to the quest. The narrative serves primarily to draw the player through the game. At the start of the adventure, Our Hero is about to embark on a quest to discover his identity and reclaim his birthright. From this point, you will guide Our Hero through ancient Greece. About This Guide On the following pages, you will find a version of the shooting script that was used to create Wrath of the Gods. To make the characters of Greek mythology come alive, the co-designers Jeff Cretcher and Joel Skidmore videotaped costumed actors on an empty stage and then digitally composited in backgrounds from photographs taken in Greece. They used the original version of this script as their guide for the video shoot and also for the computer programming of the game itself. Later, when Marty Beckers was updating the program so that it would run on the latest computers, he made sure that the script exactly matches the experience of the game. And we've added some of the background information written by Joel that is available in the “Info Space” during gameplay. Therefore this guide serves as a handy tool for learning about the Greek myths while tracking your progress through the game—with something like the omniscient perspective of a god of Greek mythology! 7 Introductory Movie THE STORMY HEIGHTS OF MOUNT OLYMPUS serve as the backdrop for the opening narration. Olympus (oh-LIM- pus) is an actual mountain in northern Greece, rising to multiple peaks of over 9000 feet. In mythology, it was the home of the supreme gods, who lived there in a beautiful castle and were known as the Olympians. The narration refers to the Greek Dark Age, which followed the prehistoric Heroic Age and lasted from about 1200 BC to 800 BC. “Wine- dark sea” is a phrase from Homer, traditionally a blind minstrel who composed the first two great works of Western literature, the epic poems known as The Iliad and The Odyssey. NARRATOR Back before the Age of Darkness, when the gods of Olympus held sway upon the earth and ruled the wine-dark sea; when the deities involved themselves in the affairs of humankind and a mortal might aspire to be larger than life… THE SCENE SHIFTS TO MYCENAE (my-SEE-nee), a kingdom of the Heroic Age. NARRATOR (continues) …a child was born to the Princess of Mycenae. FADE UP on a bedroom: a young mother, Dione (dye-OH-nee), leans over her infant’s cradle. The King enters and kneels. He extends his finger toward the Baby. 8 KING And how is my grandson today? The Baby grabs the King’s finger. KING Growing stronger I perceive. Surely the father is some great hero. Why won’t you tell me his name, my daughter? Dione silently averts her gaze. KING Be that as it may, the time has come to consult the Oracle of Delphi. It’s not every day that a child is born into the royal house. FADE OUT FADE UP ON THE SANCTUARY OF DELPHI (DEL-fye). The Oracle addresses the King, who stands with Dione and the Baby. Oracles were spokespersons for the divine, who often answered questions in riddles. The greatest was at Delphi. ORACLE Within your lifetime, oh High King of Mycenae, this child shall rule in your place. KING Rule in my place? Never! 9 FADE UP ON A DESOLATE MOUNTAINSIDE. The King gestures imperiously toward the ground. Dione, weeping, places the Baby down upon the grass, then she and the King withdraw. The Baby is crying. CUT TO CLOSE-UP OF BABY ON THE GROUND. Galloping hoofbeats are heard to approach and slow to a cautious pace. The legs of a centaur (SEN-tawr) enter the frame. FADE OUT FADE UP ON A MOUNTAIN PEAK WITH VISTA. The Hero, your on-screen representative (hereinafter “you”), stands on a mountaintop with Chiron (KYE-ron) the Centaur. The centaurs were half man, half horse. Notoriously uncivilized, they were prone to such behavior as disrupting wedding feasts by trying to carry off the bride. Chiron was distinguished from the other centaurs 10 by his civility and cultivation of the healing arts. Among other skills, he taught young heroes the medicinal value of herbs and plants. CHIRON Well, my boy, I’ve done all I can for you. I’ve raised you in the ways of beasts and men. (handing you something) Take this ring, it was in your blanket when I found you. And these gems might come in handy. The ring and the gems go into your inventory with the sound of a “ping.” CHIRON Now it’s time for you to make your way in the world. Venture forth, find your true parents, and prove yourself. (gestures) This is the hero’s path. Ruins CROSSROADS WITH RUINS OF CLASSICAL STRUCTURES. In the first scene that you enter as you set out on the hero’s path, you come upon the partially tumbled remains of some impressive architecture. Although this scene evokes the glorious spirit of ancient Greece, there were actually no ruined monuments during the Mycenaean (my-seh-NEE-an) Age, the probable time setting of the Greek myths. 11 Shepherd CLEARING WITH SHEPHERD AND BOULDER You cross a meadow to find a huge boulder in its midst. There’s also a Shepherd and some Sheep. If you click on the Sheep they react, and after the snake in the Shrine scene (next page) has cleaned your ears, they talk to you: SHEEP Baah! Here’s b-a-a-a-d news. You can talk to the Shepherd. If you do so: SHEPHERD What’re you supposed to be? One of them apprentice heroes? Clicking on the boulder walks you over to it. Clicking on it again triggers an animation of you failing to lift it.